Middle School Limerick Poem Lesson
Students Write Humorous Poetry for Saint Patrick's Day or Any Day
Feb 15, 2008
Limericks are generally connected with the Irish town of Limerick. Wikipedia reports that the limerick form became popular when Edward Lear wrote the Book of Nonsense (1845). Lear wrote 212 limericks, mostly in nonsense verse with silly illustrations.
Limericks are supposed to be funny and to be remembered. This lesson allows students to learn the ancient art of writing funny poems. Students will also need to illustrate their poems.
Preparation for the Poetry Limerick Lesson
- Collect various poetry books with limerick poems in them. One great book to use with this lesson is A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms [Ala Notable Children's Books, Middle Readers, Candlewick, 2005] by Paul B. Janeczko (Compiler), Chris Rashaka (Illustrator).
- Create a rubric. Decide on the criteria and the level of quality that students need to reach to be successful in this lesson before beginning.
- Write a few original limericks.
- Make a handout for the students. It should specify directions for writing limericks. Examples should be on it as well.
Example Items for a Handout on Limerick Poems
Pattern of a Limerick
The Laughing Limerick website shows that “most (but not all) limericks begin with the phrase
"There once was a __________ from ________."
or
"There was a ________ _____________ from _________."
This is a nice limerick pattern to follow:
- Line 1: Tell who the person is and where he or she is from
- Line 2: Describe the person or tell something interesting about him or her
- Line 3 & 4: Give more interesting detail about what was mentioned in line two
- Line 5: Based on the first four lines, finish off the limerick with a surprising and/or funny ending
Rhyme Pattern or Scheme
The rhyme scheme or rhyme pattern isAABBA.
Example Limerick:
There once was a girl from Troy A
She would always try to annoy A
She looked like a moose B
She laughed like a goose B
Her silliness always caught a boy A
Directions for Limerick Poem Lesson for Saint Patrick’s Day or for Any Day
- Share three-to-five great examples of limericks. Limericks are meant to be funny. Try to have fun with this lesson. Leave the books in a central location for students to peruse later.
- Provide students a handout on how to create limericks.
- Talk about the form and rhyme scheme of limericks with the class.
- Students should have someone in mind when they begin to write the limerick.
- Give time for students to start a rough draft of the poem in class.
- Assign students to illustrate the final copy of the shape poem for homework.
When students bring in the final copy with illustrations, have students share the limericks with the class. The best ones could win candy or be posted on the wall. Make this Saint Patrick’s Day memorable by writing limericks or complete this lesson when humor is needed.
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